Sopron


Sopron is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő.

History

Ancient times-13th century

In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely.
When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a city called Scarbantia stood here. The site of its forum is now the main square of Sopron.
During the Migration Period, Scarbantia was believed to be deserted. When Hungarians arrived in the area, the city was in ruins. From the 9th to the 11th centuries, Hungarians strengthened the old Roman city walls and built a castle. The city was named in Hungarian after a castle steward named Suprun. In 1153, it was mentioned as an important city.
In 1273, King Otakar II of Bohemia occupied the castle. Even though he took the children of Sopron's nobility with him as hostages, the city opened its gates when the armies of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary arrived. Ladislaus rewarded Sopron by elevating it to the rank of free royal town.

16th-19th centuries

During the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, the Ottoman Turks ravaged the city in 1529, but did not occupy it. Many Hungarians fled from the occupied areas to Sopron, and the city's importance grew.
While the Ottomans occupied most of Central Europe, the region north of Lake Balaton remained in the Kingdom of Hungary .
In 1676, Sopron was destroyed by a fire. The modern city was born over the next few decades, when Baroque buildings were built to replace the destroyed medieval ones. Sopron became the seat of the comitatus Sopron.
The town was the seat of the Ödenburg comitat near 1850. After the compromise of 1867 and until 1918, the city was part of the Habsburg-ruled Kingdom of Hungary.

20th century to present

Following the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ethnic Germans inhabited parts of four western Hungarian counties: Pozsony, Vas, Sopron and Moson. The German-inhabited parts of those counties were initially awarded to Austria in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After local unrest and Italian diplomatic mediation in the Venice Protocol, Sopron's status as part of Hungary was decided by a controversial, local plebiscite held on 14 December 1921, with 65% voting for Hungary. Since then Sopron has been called Civitas Fidelissima, and the anniversary of the plebiscite is a city holiday. However, the western parts of Vas, Sopron and Moson counties joined Austria and now form the Austrian federal state of Burgenland, and Pressburg/Pozsony was awarded to Czechoslovakia.
Sopron suffered greatly during World War II and was bombed several times. The Soviet Red Army captured the city on 1 April 1945.
The city of Sopron and the village of Sopronbánfalva began to stretch towards each other at the beginning of the 20th century, they unified in 1950 and since the areas have merged. Sopron and the village of Balf unified in 1985.
On 19 August 1989 Sopron was the site of the Pan-European Picnic, a protest on the border between Austria and Hungary, which was used by over 600 citizens of East Germany to escape to the West. As the first successful crossing of the border, it helped pave the way for the mass flight of East German citizens that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.
During the Socialist era, the government tried to turn Sopron into an industrial city, but much of the medieval town center remains, allowing the city to remain an attractive site for tourists.
Today, Sopron's economy immensely benefits from the European Union. Having been a city close to nowhere, that is, to the Iron Curtain, Sopron now has re-established full trade relations to nearby Austria. Furthermore, after being suppressed during the Cold War, Sopron's German-speaking culture and heritage are now recognized again. As a consequence, many of the city's street-and traffic-signs are written in both Hungarian and German making it an officially bilingual city due to its proximity to the Austrian frontier. Visitors admire the large number of buildings in this city that reflect medieval architecture—rare in war-torn Hungary. Situated close to the Austrian border, Sopron receives many visitors from Vienna, and from Bratislava, Slovakia, as well as from the United States, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Japan, and Scandinavia, who visit to take advantage of the excellent low-cost dental services offered: Sopron boasts so many dental clinics—more than 300—that the city is known as the "dental capital of the world."

Wine production

Sopron is a significant wine producing region, one of the few in Hungary to make both red and white wines. Grapes include Kékfrankos for red wine and Traminer for white wine. In climate it is similar to the neighbouring Burgenland wine region in Austria, and several winemakers make wine in both countries. Blue Frankish, Traminer, and Green Veltliner are well-known Sopron wines. Sopron's Blue Frankish and Pinot Noir wines are particularly prized.
The group of ethnic German wine growers in the Sopron area in the Habsburg Monarchy were the so-called Ponzichter.

Demographics

In 1910, Sopron had 33,931 inhabitants. Religions: 64.1% Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001, the city had 56,125 inhabitants. Religions: 69% Catholic, 7% Lutheran, 3% Calvinist, 8.1% Atheist, 11.9% no answer, 1% other.

Architecture

The architecture of the old section of town reflects its long history; walls and foundations from the Roman Empire are still common, together with a wealth of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque structures, often artistically decorated, showing centuries of stability and prosperity.
There is an old synagogue and other remains from the town's former Jewish community, which was expelled in the 16th century.
On Daloshegy, there is a 165-metre-tall FM-/TV-broadcasting tower, nicknamed "Rakéta".

Places of interest

  • City centre
  • Firewatch Tower
  • Walls with Roman origin
  • Széchenyi Square and Flag of Loyalty
  • Kecske Church
  • Esterházy Palace
  • Eggenberg House
  • City Hall
  • Storno House
  • Fabricius House
  • "Two Moors" House
  • Chemist's Museum
  • Lábasház
  • Gambrinus House
  • Taródi Castle

    Amusement

  • Cartoon Forum
  • Spring Festival of Sopron
  • Festal Weeks of Sopron
  • Civitas Pinceszínház
  • Liszt Ferenc Művelődési Központ

    Politics

The current mayor of Sopron is Ciprián Farkas.
The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2024 local government elections, is made up of 18 members divided into this political parties and alliances:

Sports

The women's basketball team Sopron Basket is one of the most successful Hungarian basketball team in history, with 15 National titles and success in Europe, in 2022 they won EuroLeague. MFC Sopron was a football team based in Sopron. The successor of the club is Soproni VSE.

Transport

Sopron's nearest airport is Vienna Airport, located north of the city.

Notable residents

Sopron is twinned with: